Megan Harmon isn’t in a financial position to destroy the funds sheneeds to pay her bills every month, but that didn’t stop the WesternWashington University BFA student from utilizing legal tender in“Another Day, Another Dollar,” a one-day exhibit she’ll be showing atLucia Douglas gallery on Mon., May 2, 2011. We caught up with theartist to talk about money, and why it matters.

Cascadia Weekly: How did you first become interested in using money asan artistic medium?Megan Harmon: While working in photography I shoot black and whitenostalgic images reminiscent of the “American dream.” In printmaking,I use text and iconic imagery to create slogans that portray a modernview of value and worth. Working with paper currency, or the actualobject I associate with as “money,” was the most natural next step inexploring my curiosity with value.

CW: What were the primary things you wanted to get across when youstarted working with currency?MH: I am trying to convey to the viewer that money is an object. I amexploring how we identify with money as an object and questioning myrelationship to it.

CW: Can you explain in further detail how you get a hold of the money?MH: I am a college student, and am in no position to shred my ownmoney. I buy shredded money from eBay and the Bureau of Printing andEngraving in Washington D.C. All of the money I use has been shreddedby federal authorities.

CW: I saw the “apple” image and “grapes.” What other images are therein the exhibit?MH: I will be displaying photographs of the objects I have covered inmoney––apples, grapes, pears, and silverware––large screen-printedtext pieces, mixed media with money and gloss medium, and smallinstallations of the money-covered objects.

CW: How much legal tender did you go through?MH: I used roughly three pounds of shredded money for the purposes of this show.

CW: In your press release, you wrote that “money in its physical formis merely paper, and electronic money is intangible.” What otherepiphanies did you have in the course of putting this exhibittogether?MH: The most interesting things that have happened are theconversations I get into with people who see me carrying, or workingwith, shredded money. The first question is always, “Is that real?”

Some of the people that have approached me about my work are completestrangers, but seeing shredded money compelled them to ask questionsabout it. It is this response that people have to my work thatinterests me the most. Money is a symbol that evokes a strong feelingin the viewer, especially when they start to see a relationshipbetween my work and the currency they use on a daily basis.

CW: Is money an easy tool to use?MH: Shredded money is shredded at 1/16 of an inch and is as long as aregular bill. It is a very tedious task to cover objects in thismaterial. However, it is an act I find pleasantly repetitive andtherapeutic.

CW: Will the art be for sale, or is that adding a whole other layer ofmonetary mischief to the mix?MH: Yes, the work will be for sale.

CW: If you were super-rich, would you use “real” money in your art?MH: I am currently using real money. The shredded money I receive isreal U.S. currency.